Under Cook County’s Solar Schools Grant program, the Cook County Department of Environment and Sustainability awarded grant funding to 24 public schools, four within the 16th District, to support the construction of small photovoltaic (PV) systems used to educate students’ first-hand how sunlight is converted into electricity. The County’s program provides supplemental funding to grantees of the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation’s (ICECF) K-12 Solar Schools Program, which assists with the installation of 1kW PV systems throughout Illinois institutions serving grades K-12. Each school is reimbursed a maximum of $5,000 by the County upon installation of the system. The 16th District schools who received Solar Schools Grant awards from Cook County are:

1. Sherlock Elementary School in Cicero

2. East Leyden High School in Franklin Park

3. Proviso East High School in Maywood

4. West Leyden High School in Northlake